Kim Dong-yeon "Deep Regret Over Full Cut of Local Currency Support Budget"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon is presiding over the August provincial government open meeting on the 31st.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, expressed his "deep regret" over the government's decision to completely cut next year's regional currency support budget and stated his hope that it would be reflected during the National Assembly's budget review process to resolve livelihood issues.

At the 'August Provincial Government Open Meeting' held on the 31st, Governor Kim said, "The government has completely cut the budget related to regional currency. If this decision was made for political reasons or purposes, it is very regrettable," and pointed out, "In a difficult economic situation, it will clearly lead to a regional economic downturn and exacerbate the difficulties of people's livelihoods."

He continued, "We have worked hard to support small business owners and the regional economy through regional currency policies based on partial agreements so far, but this decision seriously undermines the central government's policy credibility and stability," adding, "The budget item itself has been eliminated, so difficulties are expected during the National Assembly's review process. I hope lawmakers will recognize the importance of regional currency and strive to have the budget reflected during the National Assembly's budget review process. Gyeonggi Province will also join those efforts," he promised.

Additionally, he instructed the three vice governors to proactively lead the provincial government’s current key issues: ▲ Provincial Government Innovation Committee ▲ Gyeonggi International Airport ▲ Special Self-Governing Province in Northern Gyeonggi.

Accordingly, Oh Byung-kwon, First Vice Governor of Administration, will lead the 'Provincial Government Innovation Committee,' an organization responsible for reviewing and implementing the pledges of the 8th elected term; Yeom Tae-young, Vice Governor for Economy, will lead the promotion of the 'Gyeonggi International Airport' project; and Lee Han-gyu, Second Vice Governor of Administration, will take charge of establishing the Special Self-Governing Province in Northern Gyeonggi.

Regarding this, Governor Kim explained, "The first agenda of the citizen participation-type 'public discussion project' was selected as the 'relocation of Suwon Air Base,'" adding, "This means not to approach it as just relocating Suwon Air Base, but to shift the idea to building a 'Gyeonggi International Airport' in southern Gyeonggi, which will serve as a logistics hub and connect people."

The province plans to create a committee or a special task force (TF) to proactively promote the Gyeonggi International Airport project in this fall’s organizational restructuring.

Governor Kim also said, "The northern region should adopt a proactive approach to become the center of South Korea's growth, rather than a passive approach focused on compensation for damages," and ordered, "Please review plans to expand the organization beyond the current TF and form a public-private joint committee for planning."

The open provincial government meeting that day was held with vice governors and heads of departments attending, focusing on the theme of 'Comprehensive Gyeonggi Province Chuseok Measures Centered on Emergency Economy.' In particular, Moon Woo-sik, chairman of the 'Gyeonggi Province Livelihood Measures Special Committee,' which officially launched on the 1st, participated to discuss livelihood measures such as stabilizing prices during Chuseok.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province and its 31 cities and counties have allocated a total of 487 billion KRW (106 billion KRW in national funds, 184.1 billion KRW in provincial funds, and 196.9 billion KRW in city/county funds) as incentives for regional currency issuance this year. The scale of regional currency issuance planned by Gyeonggi Province this year is 5 trillion KRW, accounting for 28.5% of the nationwide 17.5 trillion KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.